Comparative Linguistic Analysis of Gender Representations in "The Daughters of Aai" by Fehmida Riaz and "Saleema" by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Abstract

Language is considered man made. Historically, males and females are controlled by socialization and linguistic hegemony. This study strives to explore the similarities and dissimilarities in gender representations in Daniyal Mueenuddin’s short story “Saleema” and Fehmida Riaz’s short story “The Daughters of Aai”, qualitatively, by doing content analysis of words, phrases and sentences through the lens of gyno-text and andro-text as cited in Barry (1995-2000) & Tyson (2006). It is  found out that politically and socially constructed language controlled women more than men. It is quite clear through analysis that Fehmida Riaz’s representation of females is limited, full of shyness  and confessional of females’ weaknesses. Moreover, Riaz endorses male power while Daniyal Mueenuddin portrays equally bold men and women openly and bravely, thus exposing less social linguistic control over his narrative.